Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Position Reduced by NFJ Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley by 16.3%, selling 33,905 shares during the first quarter, resulting in a holding valued at approximately $20.36 million.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their ratings on Morgan Stanley, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increasing the target price from $127 to $160 and Wells Fargo raising it from $120 to $145.
• Morgan Stanley increased its quarterly dividend to $1.00 per share, up from $0.93, and announced a $20 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in the company's stock value.

NFJ Investment Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Free Report) by 16.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 174,497 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 33,905 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $20,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 6.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,769,345 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $13,740,149,000 after purchasing an additional 7,636,547 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Morgan Stanley during the first quarter valued at approximately $767,506,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Morgan Stanley by 21.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 17,056,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,990,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989,122 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 12,318.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,750,845 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,728,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its position in Morgan Stanley by 99.9% in the first quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 3,111,979 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $363,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,555,015 shares in the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on MS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $127.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $130.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Morgan Stanley from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $138.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 43,566 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.97, for a total value of $6,141,499.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 294,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,480,422.50. The trade was a 12.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Charles A. Smith sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.30, for a total transaction of $2,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 119,239 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,729,231.70. The trade was a 14.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 148,149 shares of company stock worth $20,841,628. Insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

NYSE:MS opened at $150.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $240.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.33. Morgan Stanley has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $150.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $144.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $16.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.15 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 15.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This is an increase from Morgan Stanley's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Morgan Stanley's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.30%.

Morgan Stanley announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, July 1st that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 8.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.

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